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First Period:
The game started on time for the Boston Bruins for a change, as Patrice Bergeron put a fantastic backhander past Joonas Korpisalo to put the Bruins up 1-0!
From that angle, it robs the amount of power Bergeron had to put behind that with a player almost on top of him to get it up, as all backhanders require. He just shoveled that sucker past Korpisalo. Just a fantastic shot.
Unfortunately, Matt Duchene had to go and ruin everyone’s good vibes as he just blew past John Moore to get a shot past Jaroslav Halak. 1-1
[mutterings of “God damnit John” intensify]
Thankfully, the Bruins got it together right afterwards, and surrendered no goals either way to end a period they had otherwise dominated. Good times!
Second Period:
Nothing happened.
I wish I had a highlight here for you. Maybe I could talk about Connor McGregor being both in attendance and also extremely tanked by this point and hanging out with the ice crew, but even that I could not see from my seats. The Jackets and Bruins didn’t do much, Jaroslav Halak sent away the Jackets without another goal against, and we moved on to period 3.
Third Period:
More of the same, as the B’s and Jackets traded chances, and both sides couldn’t convert. It was otherwise a pretty fun period to watch, even without the red light turning on ever.
To overtime we go.
Overtime:
Overtime had some...curious decision making on the part of Bruce Cassidy to start, but as it was winding down and we were all dreading the Skillz Competition, who else but Mister Overtime himself Brad Marchand would finish things off.
Nice little McGregor/Vince McMahon Strut there to cap it off too. Bruins win 2-1 and will face the Islanders on Tuesday!
Game Notes:
- The Bruins and Celtics had a double header today, and the ice definitely reflected the wear and tear of a whole separate sport having happened on top of it early in the day. The Puck was bouncy, neither side could finish rushes without falling over (special considerations to Sean Kuraly who was the biggest victim of this), and in general it felt like both sides were “off”, even if the B’s were the more well-rested squad.
- Jaroslav Halak had himself another great night, with a .960 SV% posted against a Jackets team that liked creating dangerous chances out of what seemed like nothing, especially in the third period and overtime.
- Charlie Coyle should go see a witch doctor or a priest or a wizard or something about his shot. He’s doing literally everything right except the most important part of a forward’s job: pucks on net or goal scoring. He had a pair of golden opportunities he couldn’t convert on that could’ve made this a much easier win.
- John Moore sure had...a night. As close to directly responsible for the sole Bruins goal-against as you can get, making brain-dead passes right in front of his goalie, and in general looking pretty shaky. Kampfer wasn’t much better. Thankfully, the Jackets didn’t seem interested in pressing the attack much at all this evening.
- Connor Clifton was pretty good! He played it safe when he could’ve maybe continued a rush most of the time, but that’s all fine and good. He spent the best portion of his night doing the right thing in his 16:25 of 5on5 ice-time.
- Punchy McIrishjerk left a lot of whiskey in the Bruins dressing room afterwards, apparently. Monday practice is going to feature a lot of pale, haggered faces, I’ll bet.
- Four point lead over the Leafs in the Atlantic restored! A pretty grimy loss in Kanata all but sealed that deal for Boston! For once, the Sens did something right!
See you Tuesday! Drink Responsibly, Drink local, and don’t drink the green beer!